CHAPTER 4

Repetition
Structures

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

 Topics
Introduction to Repetition Structures
The while Loop: a Condition-
Controlled Loop
The for Loop: a Count-Controlled Loop
Calculating a Running Total
Sentinels
Input Validation Loops
Nested Loops
 Introduction to Repetition
Structures
 Often have to write code that performs the
same task multiple times
 Disadvantages to duplicating code
Makes program large
Time consuming
May need to be corrected in many places
 Repetition structure: makes computer repeat
included code as necessary
 Includes condition-controlled loops and count-
controlled loops
 The while Loop: a Condition-
Controlled Loop
 while loop: while condition is true, do
something
 Two parts:
Condition tested for true or false value
Statements repeated as long as condition is true
 In flow chart, line goes back to previous part
 General format:
 while condition:
 statements
The while Loop: a Condition-
Controlled Loop (cont’d.)
The while Loop: a Condition-
Controlled Loop (cont’d.)
 In order for a loop to stop executing,
something has to happen inside the loop to
make the condition false
 Iteration: one execution of the body of a loop
 while loop is known as a pretest loop
 Tests condition before performing an iteration
Will never execute if condition is false to start with
Requires performing some steps prior to the loop
Bookex4_1.py
# This program calculates sales
commissions.

# Create a variable to control the

loop.
keep_going = 'y'

# Calculate a series of commissions.

while keep_going == 'y':
# Get a salesperson's sales and
commission rate.
sales = float(input('Enter the
amount of sales: '))
comm_rate = float(input('Enter the
commission rate: '))
 Infinite Loops
Loops must contain within themselves
a way to terminate
Something inside a while loop must
eventually make the condition false
Infinite loop: loop that does not have a
way of stopping
Repeats until program is interrupted
Occurs when programmer forgets to include
stopping code in the loop
 The for Loop: a Count-
Controlled Loop
Count-Controlled loop: iterates a
specific number of times
Use a for statement to write count-controlled
loop
Designed to work with sequence of data items
 Iterates once for each item in the sequence
General format:
 for variable in [val1, val2, etc]:
 statements
Target variable: the variable which is the target of
the assignment at the beginning of each iteration
Bookex4_2.py

# This program also demonstrates a

# simple for loop that uses a list
# of numbers.

print('I will display the odd numbers

1 through 9.')
for num in [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]:
print(num)
Using the range Function with
the for Loop
 The range function simplifies the process of
writing a for loop
 range returns an iterable object
Iterable: contains a sequence of values that can be
iterated over
 range characteristics:
 One argument: used as ending limit
 Two arguments: starting value and ending limit
 Three arguments: third argument is step value
Using the Target Variable Inside
the Loop
 Purpose of target variable is to reference
each item in a sequence as the loop iterates

 Target variable can be used in calculations

or tasks in the body of the loop
 Example: calculate square root of each number in a
range
Letting the User Control the
Loop Iterations
 Sometimes the programmer does not know
exactly how many times the loop will execute
 Can receive range inputs from the user,
place them in variables, and call the range
function in the for clause using these
variables
 Be sure to consider the end cases: range does not
include the ending limit
 Generating an Iterable Sequence
that Ranges from Highest to Lowest

The range function can be used to

generate a sequence with numbers in
descending order
Make sure starting number is larger than end
limit, and step value is negative
Example: range (10, 0, -1)
Calculating a Running Total
Programs often need to calculate a
total of a series of numbers
Typically include two elements:
A loop that reads each number in series
An accumulator variable
Known as program that keeps a running total:
accumulates total and reads in series
At end of loop, accumulator will reference the
total
Calculating a Running Total
(cont’d.)
Bookex4_3.py
# This program calculates the sum of a
series
# of numbers entered by the user.

max = 5 # The maximum number

# Initialize an accumulator variable.

total = 0.0

# Explain what we are doing.

print('This program calculates the sum
of')
print(max, 'numbers you will enter.')

# Get the numbers and accumulate them.

for counter in range(max):
number = int(input('Enter a number:
'))
total = total + number

# Display the total of the numbers.

print('The total is', total)
The Augmented Assignment
Operators
 In many assignment statements, the variable
on the left side of the = operator also
appears on the right side of the = operator
 Augmented assignment operators: special
set of operators designed for this type of job
 Shorthand operators
The Augmented Assignment
Operators (cont’d.)
 Sentinels
Sentinel: special value that marks the
end of a sequence of items
When program reaches a sentinel, it knows
that the end of the sequence of items was
reached, and the loop terminates
Must be distinctive enough so as not to be
mistaken for a regular value in the sequence
Example: when reading an input file, empty
line can be used as a sentinel
 Input Validation Loops
Computer cannot tell the difference
between good data and bad data
If user provides bad input, program will
produce bad output
GIGO: garbage in, garbage out
It is important to design program such that
bad input is never accepted
 Input Validation Loops
(cont’d.)
Input validation: inspecting input
before it is processed by the program
If input is invalid, prompt user to enter correct
data
Commonly accomplished using a while loop
which repeats as long as the input is bad
If input is bad, display error message and receive
another set of data
If input is good, continue to process the input
Input Validation Loops
(cont’d.)
 Nested Loops
Nested loop: loop that is contained
inside another loop
Example: analog clock works like a nested
loop
Hours hand moves once for every twelve
movements of the minutes hand: for each iteration
of the “hours,” do twelve iterations of “minutes”
Seconds hand moves 60 times for each movement
of the minutes hand: for each iteration of “minutes,”
do 60 iterations of “seconds”
Bookex4_4.py
for hours in range(24):
for minutes in range(60):
for seconds in range(60):
print(hours, ':',
minutes, ':', seconds)
 Nested Loops (cont’d.)

Key points about nested loops:

Inner loop goes through all of its iterations for
each iteration of outer loop
Inner loops complete their iterations faster
than outer loops
Total number of iterations in nested loop:
number_iterations_inner x
 number_iterations_outer
 Summary
This chapter covered:
Repetition structures, including:
Condition-controlled loops
Count-controlled loops
Nested loops
Infinite loops and how they can be avoided
range function as used in for loops
Calculating a running total and augmented
assignment operators
Use of sentinels to terminate loops